Quote:
Originally Posted by Model "A" Fords
IMHO, Henry always seemed to get the credit for everything Ford. The truth is if it wasn't for Henry, the model A would have been built years earlier. I have always attributed the Model A Ford to Edsel and wish he could have gained that recognition while he was alive. Henry never made it easy for his son and I don't think he appreciated Edsel until after his death.
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Without a doubt it would have been, Edsel pointing out in the early 20s, how the competition (Chevrolet) was producing a superior car to his beloved Model T, was taken as blasphemy by Henry. The Model A had Edsel written all over it, and with its sales success Henry claimed it for himself. Did the same thing with Sorensen's success at casting the V8 block with a single casting. This was quite a feat for the day, while the V design engine was not a new configuration, prior to Ford's offering, they were assembled out of many different castings. This made them impractical for the lower price field from an economics standpoint.
Henry was closer to Bennett than Edsel. I always thought to my self, if I would have been in Edsel's shoes, I would have been explaining that my name was Ford, not his.... And whatever convincing it would have required for him to understand this, being a lead pipe or blunderbuss, or thugs of my own, then so be it. The duce would have none of his bullshit when he got the reins, and made it number one priority to rid Ford Motor Company of this little thug, which he did. What I have read about Edsel, he was a quiet, polite man, and thugs like Bennett walked all over him, with his Father's approval...Henry was a great man, did a lot of good for the world, but missed it terribly as a Father....Of course my humble opinion....